Self-employment figures still sliding downwards, ONS says

According to the newest data released by the Office for National Statistics (ONS), self-employment figures are still sliding, slowly but surely, for the seventh month in a row.

While the wider economic fortunes of the UK continue to grow
steadily, the number of freelancers, contractors, and other
self-employed Britons continues to flounder, according to the
figures released by the ONS. The number of freelance workers within
the UK is now considered to be 4.5 million.

With 26,000 individuals leaving self-employment over the course
of the last three months to August, the overall freelancing sector
has reverted to its pre-recession population overall. However, this
isn't the case for every industry and sub-sector, as more
lower-skilled contract workers, those who turned to self-employment
out of necessity after losing their positions in the credit crisis,
are likely to be returning to the relative safety and security of
traditional employment methods. However, more skilled or niche
contract workers like freelance journalists or IT contractors are
much more likely to continue working as self-employed thanks to
their higher wage-earning capability and the flexibility the
freelance lifestyle affords them.

Chris Bryce, chief executive for the Association of
Professionals and the Self Employed (IPSE), responded to the new
ONS figures by expressing concern about the seven-month-long drop
in freelance personnel figures despite the more general
improvements in the labour market. The IPSE chief expressed his
belief that this drop in contractor numbers is unlikely to be a
long term trend, and that a "modest" improvement in self-employed
numbers for this quarter supports his confidence.

Mr. Bryce concluded his remarks by calling on the Government to
reverse recent decisions made with the summer Budget; doing sowould
once again demonstrate continued support for the nation's
self-employed, he added.